Cervest storms ahead with £21m Series A round

Cervest, the AI-powered climate intelligence platform, has raised $30m (£21m) in Series A led by Draper Esprit. The platform helps calculate extreme weather event risk for businesses and financial services, such as insurance companies. Current investors Astanor Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital and Future Positive Capital also participated, joined by new investors UNTITLED and TIME Ventures.

Balderton Capital predicts success for Forecast

Forecast, the AI- platform for project and resource management, has raised $19m (£13.4m) in Series A led by Balderton Capital with participation from previous investors, Crane Ventures Partners, SEED Capital and Heartcore. Forecast claims to be the most advanced product available that applies AI and machine learning technology to financial management and project management at scale. Gartner predicts that AI will handle 80 per cent of project management tasks by 2030.

Healios raises £7m Series A for mental health platform

Healios, the digital therapy platform for children and teenagers, has raised £7m Series A led by InHealth Ventures with AlbionVC. Currently one in eight five-to-19-year-olds (13 per cent) have a mental health disorder, yet two thirds of them are unable to access NHS treatment due to increased demand and long waiting lists. Healios works with two thirds of NHS mental health truest to expand provision and reach more young people in need, delivering over 70,000 clinical sessions to date.

Investors grade StudentFinance.com with £4m funding

Angel investors including former culture minister Ed Vaizey have taken part in a $5.3m (£3.7m) funding round for fintech StudentFinance.com, which covers education costs in exchange for a share of future earnings.

Using a system called an Income Share Agreement (ISA), students only start paying back tuition once they are employed and earning above a minimum income threshold, with payments structured as a percentage of their earnings.

Giant Ventures and Armilar Venture Partners led the round, with support from Seedcamp, Mustard Seed Maze and Sabadell Venture Capital. The funding will be used to triple the size of its team and expand into the UK and other European markets.

PointGrab spots £3.4m equity investment

PointGrab, a sensor system which help businesses maintain social distancing in post-Covid offices, has completed a £3.4m equity raise led by specialist venture capitalist EMV Capital.

PointGrab’s product is a smart workplace platform system enabling organisations to count, track the flow and locate people at individual desks, on floors or across an entire campus. It alerts users when social distancing measures are breached.

ScaleXP grows with £600,000 seed funding round

ScaleXP, the automated analytics platform which helps small businesses consolidate their financial and sales data, has raised £600,000 in a seed funding round. Backed by Cambridge Angels, Angel Academe, Syndicate Room and Founders Factory, the fundraise will help the company to develop its platform and services, while also accelerating customer acquisition. Founded by Suezann Holmes – who previously held senior positions at MOO and Virgin Media – the new platform will give small businesses tools to consolidate disparate financial and sales data, prepare for fundraising and make more informed decisions about growth plans.

Dyman shines with £571,000 angel investment

Dyman Advanced Materials has raised £571,000 investment from angel investors to develop its artificial diamond production technology. Investors originally committed £65,000 to County Durham-based Dyman back in January 2020.

More Deals of the Week

Deals of the week May 10 to May 14 – a GrowthBusiness roundup